Many people missing - flood takes in 600 yards of land

24 October 2010 in Indonesia

Several natural disasters in Indonesia caused at least 140 deaths within two days. The 7.7M earthquake which hit Indonesia on Monday and the subsequent tsunami killed at least 112 people. The tidal wave overflooded over 600 yards of land. Entire villages have been washed away.

The Indonesian authorities had revoked a tsunami warning for the area after a short time - the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said, however, later, the quake had "triggered a massive tidal wave." On Southpagai, one of the Mentawai Islands.

Less than 24 hours after the quake the volcano Merapi on the island of Java erupted,causing further 25 deaths. The 2,900 meter high Mount Merapi on Java is the most active of Indonesia's volcanoes. Already on Monday the authorities had ordered the evacuation of the densely populated area around Merapi. Approximately 19,000 residents within a radius of ten kilometers were asked to leave their homes, but many farmers refused to leave land and cattle in the lurch.

Indonesia was already earlier this year hit by an 7.4 Magnitude earthquake , which caused hundred of deaths. The region lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where hundreds of earthquakes occur each year. During the tsunami in late 2004 in several coastal areas of the Indian Ocean, more than 220,000 people were killed. Worst hit was Indonesia, with 168,000 dead.